​She said the feeling among businesses there is mutual — they’ve been abandoned.

​But Stephanie Stomp said she’s hoping to draw more attention to the mostly women-run shops around Third and Elm.

“We’re kind of like the forgotten people over here on Third (Street) and Elm (Avenue),” Stomp, owner of Envy Beauty Studio, said.

She said the shops — including hers, Kiska Beauty, Hey Nice Nails, Modern Emporium, Sweet Dixie Kitchen, Sweet Peach Planning, Sixth and Detroit, Pawsitively and more — are frustrated because they don’t get the foot traffic seen in other areas, such as those on Fourth Street or City Place.

“We just have so many women-run businesses,” Stomp said.

Stomp added she’s working to promote their shops.

“When we do Art Walk here, we don’t even charge for a table,” Stomp said. “We’re just trying to keep this neighborhood alive… This has just been an underdeveloped portion of Long Beach for awhile and we’re trying to revitalize this neighborhood.”

One of the issues is lighting.

“It’s very dark here, so there’s not as much traffic,” Stomp said.

To improve that, Stomp said she spoke with Eric Gray, owner of ITO Solutions. Gray said he told her about festoon lighting and a loan program she and other owners could get through the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA). But no definite plans have been made. Stomp said she submitted a request to Rep. Alan Lowenthal’s (D-Long Beach) office for lights in the adjacent post office parking lot, but hadn’t received a response.

Owner of Hey Nice Nails, Donne Geer, said she and her sister Ginny Geer run the shop. She describes their décor as a barbershop-meets-tattoo-meets-nail salon.

“Right now our problem is safety,” Geer said.

The proximity to the MHA Village on Elm Avenue can cause issues, with homeless and/or drug-addicted people hanging around outside.

“They have great resources there,” Geer said. “But we have to be careful with people coming into our shop and stealing. When it takes 20 minutes for a cop to show up, it’s frustrating. Nothing gets done or it’s the merchant’s responsibility.”

Geer said they’ve had to adjust accordingly.

“Right now, we have to make it look like we’re not open. We’re by appointment only. But we would love to have an open community-type of feel.”

Geer said she’d like to eventually have employees and offer regular hours.

Geer said she is unsure of how to solve the safety issue, but is hopeful of how the city will use a recent grant of about $8.9 million from the federal government and elsewhere to deal with homelessness.

As for lighting, Geer said there has been talk of adding festoon lights — but that’s not an option for her.

​“We’re just in a hard spot because we’re in a historical building,” she said. “The city wants $1,500 for a certificate… There are a lot of hurdles I don’t think I want to go through.”Although there are hurdles, the businesses have started uniting, Geer said.

“It’s just hard out there,” she said. “But I love that we’re all women owners and we’re kind of the known as the ‘beauty block.’”​Emily Thornton can be reached at ethornton@gazettes.com.